Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are susceptible to respiratory tract infections at an early age; with the most frequent initial isolate being the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Subsequently, these patients become chronically...

The overall scope of my thesis project is to determine effects of farnesol, a secreted factor produced by C. albicans , on P. aeruginosa virulence. These two organisms are frequently found with one another in mixed infections and our lab has...

The β-hemoglobinopathies sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia represent some of the most common inherited diseases. It is recognized that increased fetal hemoglobin (HbF) ameliorates symptoms, mortality and morbidity in β-hemoglobinopathy...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the model organisms used to study the developmental process of biofilm formation in Gram-negative bacteria. Recently, a genetic approach {O'Toole, 1998 #404} was taken to study biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa and...

The localization of the putative adhesin LapA to the cell surface is a key regulatory step required by Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 to irreversibly attach to a surface and form a biofilm. LapA contains several domains conserved in predicted...

In this dissertation, I present an examination of the role of two biotic interactions in the population dynamics of Vibrio cholerae. Traits with a genetic basis such as size, physiological processes, stress tolerance, and even behavior, are key...

Antibodies are known to be a primary correlate of protection in almost all current vaccines, and thus evaluating the antibody response is of critical importance in attempting to predict the efficacy of novel vaccine candidates. Historically...

Genes at the mammalian β-globin loci are arranged in the order of their developmental activation. Expression of individual genes at this locus is controlled by gene proximal and distal cis -regulatory elements. This thesis focused on the function...

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is classically known as an essential co-enzyme for hydride transfer reactions in metabolism. More recently, it has been recognized as a consumed substrate of ADPribose transfer enzymes...

Despite being cloned over twenty years ago, many regulatory mechanisms of the β-globin genes have yet to be fully elucidated. The regulation of the β-globin locus in erythroid cells requires chromatin structural changes before the genes can be...

CD163 is a monocyte- and macrophage-specific surface glycoprotein proposed to function in the maintenance of homeostasis and the resolution of inflammation. CD163 binds hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes implicating this receptor as a hemoglobin...

Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) is a neurovisceral disease that causes intracellular accumulation of cholesterol and other lipids. The exact mechanism how the defects in cholesterol trafficking pathways result in the progressive neurological damage is...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a virulent opportunistic pathogen that is frequently cultured from infectious sites, and is estimated to cause ~12% of nosocomial infections worldwide [1]. P. aeruginosa infections occur in a majority of adults with the...

H-NS, an abundant nucleoid associated protein, has a role in silencing the expression of a variety of environmentally regulated genes during growth under nonpermissive conditions. A genetic approach was used to study H-NS regulation of genes in...

Monocytes and macrophages play a key role in a number of immune functions including inflammation, antigen presentation and the clearance of microorganisms and free hemoglobin. Two surface receptors which are important for these functions are CD163...